Green Bay - One of the greatest myths clouding the Green Bay Packers' 2012 season was that Mike McCarthy refused to run the football.

Suggestions of "balance" often made the coach cringe. He did, indeed, try to run. Problem is, there's a difference between effort and execution. The position was a carousel of personnel change. No single running back established himself as the answer for four, five, six consecutive weeks.

Preventing a repeat began this past weekend at rookie orientation. For three days, coaches had a sneak peek at what should be the best competition of training camp. Three new running backs - Alabama's Eddie Lacy, UCLA's Johnathan Franklin and Kansas State's Angelo Pease - will join three incumbents to give McCarthy the most crowded running back room he's had since taking over in 2006.

"We're all going to compete," Lacy said, "and when the season gets here, whoever's going to play is going to play."

The scene at rookie camp, organized team activities and minicamp needed to change.

Flash back to last spring. The running back carrying the ball inside the Don Hutson Center at rookie camp was undrafted plodder Marc Tyler who - due to injuries and miscalculations by the front office - was forced to carry the ball too much through August, too. Banking on James Starks and Alex Green off a torn ACL, options were low. Ted Thompson brought a knife to the gunfight.

Starting with Starks' turf toe in the preseason opener, the position was hammered by injuries.

Green Bay bandaged a running game together with Cedric Benson, Green, Ryan Grant, DuJuan Harris and Starks again. And McCarthy did try to chip away at light defensive fronts, too. The Packers averaged 26 rushing attempts over their final 10 games.

Yet the code was never cracked. The Packers lacked a true threat in the backfield to force defenses out of Cover-2 looks.

This was the thinking behind drafting both Lacy and Franklin. They're two backs of very different composition. Maybe one, or both, or Harris or someone else draws a safety into the box. Now, the competition begins.

McCarthy had his first look his two new backs this weekend.

"Two different types of backs," McCarthy said. "Obviously Lacy is a bigger back. Frankly, I thought Franklin handled the ball on the punt and the kickoff, too. I was excited about that, too, so he seems very natural. But once again, they're young players, they're drafted players. We look for them to definitely help us and contribute."

Considering the Packers were starting a street pickup by the postseason, no player should be ruled out. McCarthy, again, couldn't ignore Pease at practice. The Kansas State change-of-pace back, who accumulated a whopping total of 96 carries in two seasons, continued to impress the Packers coach with his shiftiness and burst.

"I'm going to do it to him again," McCarthy said, "I thought Pease of Kansas State had a very good weekend. He had another run today. I think he's a good young back."

"He's here for a reason. So that's a credit to the player and that's a credit to our personnel department. You're also practicing in helmets and shorts and that's why you have to be practical about what you saw today. It really confirms movement ability, athletic ability. Are they systematic? Do they fit what you're looking for? So that's really what this weekend's for. The real football doesn't start until training camp and we all realize that."

Replenishing the position on the fly in 2012, the Packers did not have that luxury. There was minimal evaluation and maximum trial by fire. Initially, when Harris was on the field, he was probably getting the ball. The midseason pickup was still learning the offense. Off a torn anterior cruciate ligament, it took Green weeks to find explosion and fully trust his knee . . . if he ever did.

And Grant, after shouldering the heavy lifting against Tennessee, sported a bruised and battered forehead. With no camp and hardly any practice, his head wasn't used to his helmet.

Running the ball well in December starts in May and June.

This year, Thompson and McCarthy are trying to prevent week-to-week scrambling. In style and body type, the Packers have a full menu of options. There's a stocky bulldog (Harris), a plus-sized finisher (Lacy), a jack of all trades (Franklin), Green and Starks. Pressure on the latter two has risen, even if the Packers haven't seen Green at 100% yet.

Every assistant coach preaches the value of competition, of every player having a shot to play and/or start. At running back, this year, that message is legitimate.

There's no clear front-runner, no set idea how all of these running backs will be used. Beginning May 20, when all the backs reconvene for organized team activities, Green Bay will start piecing it all together.

"Everybody wants to be the best," Franklin said. "But at the end of the day, the best person on this team is the team. It's all about the team. We're here to make the Green Bay Packers better."